An umbrella organization for Israeli Arab groups accused Israel on Saturday of perpetrating "ethnic cleansing" in Jerusalem, in the wake of Israel's quelling of riots by Arab youths on the Temple Mount.

"Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem, and the defense of Al-Aqsa and of East Jerusalem is an obligation for the whole Palestinian people, and for the Arab nation," the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee said in a statement.

The group was referring to the Al-Aqsa mosque, which sits atop the holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem.

"The occupation is the most illegitimate thing in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the struggle against it is a natural and legitimate act," the committee added.

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.